He squats down by the cat’s side as it sprawls out in the parking lot.
It is a stray tabby cat, with a coat of brown and grey, lined with stripes of darker hues. It draws its mouth wide open in a soundless yawn as it flops over to its side, exposing its belly. It is a “stray”, and any “stray” or “wild animal” would know only “flight or fight.” Exposed areas like this are nothing but danger, either from ahead or above. Yet, it appears to have lost all its survival instincts that helped its bloodline live through millennia of civilisation and millions of years prior. Perhaps “friend” is the new mechanism of natural selection these days.
Headlights of a passing-by car shine on both of them as it turns into the car park. Bathed in the car’s blinding LED gaze, he feels strangely embarrassed. Meanwhile, it remains nonchalant. It knows that when someone is squatting by its side, the cars do not approach.
He squirms in his spot. There’s something that arouses the cat’s curiosity. It gets to its feet, and bumps against him. It rubs its head against his limbs. It feels a warm, smooth sensation. He feels fur that is somewhat coarse from exposure to the elements. It feels one of the limbs on the man brushing against its fur in other places. On its back, near the base of its tail, and on the top of his head – it brushes the lattermost off, for it is too close to its face for its liking.
He suppresses the desire to bury his face in its coat and continues stroking. He wonders if he’s seen as a fellow brethren; whether he has managed to overcome any divides to that extent. Periodically, he checks his phone. After checking it about three times, he stands up, gives a final scratch under its chin, and leaves.
Perhaps he will be back tomorrow, and it will be there “tomorrow”. What is “tomorrow”? When the sun rises and sets? When one sleeps and awakens? When the date on a device changes? Both will take their respective answers – or non-answers – of “tomorrow” as it comes.
I started this a long time ago because there’s this cat that I always play with if I see it on my way home from work. However, I only just got around to finishing this. Ironically, I started it to “get over a block” — but I never got over that. The original iteration was supposed to be a “step-by-step” guide (2AM me is really strange). However, I looked at that draft with a fresh set of eyes today, threw out like 95% of the original to rewrite this, and this is the final result.
Writer’s block is hitting me hard since I’ve been expending my brain cells on the kids’ essays at work. However, I recently (like this afternoon) got around to planning a short fic. I shall try to work on it in the coming weeks. Personally, it’s not groundbreaking, but I think I just need to get something out and do this for myself.
I’ll continue to see you on the rarer and rarer stream, and my Discord.
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